


Echo

by Dusty_Scripts



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, character exploration, gabriel has feelings, i guess, mama agreste angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 02:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7134908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusty_Scripts/pseuds/Dusty_Scripts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years, five months, three weeks, three days.<br/>It’s a mantra that changes every night for Gabriel, repeating the new numbers over and over again, as if it could make the ticking clock stop. On nights when he can’t sleep, it’s even worse; numbers echo in his head like sheep waiting to be counted and questions gnaw on his brain desperately.<br/>As if sleep deprivation would take him closer to any answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Echo

Two years, five months, three weeks, three days.

It’s a mantra that changes every night for Gabriel, repeating the new numbers over and over again, as if it could make the ticking clock stop. On nights when he can’t sleep, it’s even worse; numbers echo in his head like sheep waiting to be counted and questions gnaw on his brain desperately.

As if sleep deprivation would take him closer to any answers.

Fashion critics will tell you that his latest lines are the best he’s ever done, that he has reached a new level of creative genius and dedication to his craft. He supposes that they’re right, after all, constantly micromanaging a company as well as creating new designs is a great way to keep his mind off of his…well, of his situation. It shields him from the questions, to the feelings. He has grown to find comfort in feeling numb.

Two years, six months.

It’s a milestone that he doesn’t expect to hurt so much.

Their son’s birthday was a few days ago and he wonders for the umpteenth time how she could of left not only himself, but also their child. Her love for Adrien was unconditional; it didn’t make sense for her to disappear without him of her own accord. But thinking about it makes his heart hurt, so he locks those feelings away for another night.

Three years, four months, one week.

He doesn’t know exactly how it all happened, how his research allowed him to stumble upon a tiny god. But he does, and for once he feels like he has a say in what this life throws at him.  
Most dangerously, it allows him to hope. 

Maybe he would finally find her. He thinks he might have the power now.

Three years, eleven months, one week.

Emotions are dangerous things, they leave you open to so much hurt and manipulation, so many people could use you if you leave yourself open… But he didn’t do that. No, he always offered to help. He was always there to lend a hand to the broken hearted and offer them a solution; the power to change or have anything they want. Isn’t that what everyone wanted? Power?

He thinks so.

Four years.

His calm and collective demeanor feels like it shattered hours ago, and feeling such intense emotions sinking so deeply into his bones after pushing them all out for so long causes him to cave in on himself. He tells Nathalie to cancel his entire schedule, and to tell all his calls that he is unavailable. He locks himself in his room, merely lying in a pool of his pain. It takes a few hours, but he grabs his sketchpad and sketches a few gowns. He can almost imagine the press’ reaction. The magazines would go crazy and the fashion blogs would gush over the designs, but he doesn’t think he’ll be able to look at the final product fondly. After all, the dresses were supposed to represent his pain.

The small garbage bin near his desk starts to overflow with rejected designs when he hears a quiet, almost hesitant knock on the door. He gets up with a deep sigh and grumbled something about Nathalie not listening before opening the door to berate the woman. To his surprise, however, he has to look down on familiar blonde that was definitely not his secretary. 

Adrien had stumbled backwards a few steps, surprised by how forcefully he had opened the door, but he quickly squared his shoulders and cleared his throat, offering him a box

“I-I know that sometimes, it can be hard. And I know that you don’t like to show it but I figured that this-“

His son pressed the box into his hands

“-might make it a little bit easier.”

He looks down at the box in his hands; it is white with pink and gold stripes running diagonally through a logo, he’s about to open it but stops when Adrien speaks up again

“They’re some sweets from a friend’s bakery and I figured that they might…help?”

Adrien rocks on his heels, making up an excuse to leave, but before he can get too far, Gabriel grabs him by the arm and pulls him into a hug.  
For the first time in a long time, a small part of him feels a familiar warmth. 

He struggled, at first, to place exactly where the reminiscent emotion came from. It is a few hours later before he could correctly put it into words:

It felt like a strange echo of better times.

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty short, and it didn't really turn out like I planned, but I figured I'd post it anyway. I hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
